Tea Time with Tiffany #43 - Can you hear me now?! ;-) Audio updates & upgrades, plus exciting summer project plans!

Morning all! Welcome to a wet and dreary, early springtime edition of:

Today, now that the snow is finally melting :0 seeds of ideas for the upcoming summer season are swirling about in my head, so I gab on about those for a spell. There are a few audio upgrades to discuss, plus a summer writing series that I am teasing about, though not yet fully revealing. All this, and I complain just for a bit about how frustrating teaching can be at this point of the semester. ;-) Come join me!





**To subscribe to the audio version of Tea Time with Tiffany, just search for it in iTunes or use this link to subscribe via Feedburner in your podcatcher of choice. Intro music is "Tea Ceremony" from PlayonLoop.com

Items mentioned in this episode:

•  I now have intro music for the audio version. This is exciting, yes?!
• It's been nearly a year since I changed up the format of this blog to include video posts! I couldn't remember the dates while I was recording, but the first video post was May 12, 2015, and the first official Tea Time with Tiffany was published on May 21, 2015.
• I didn't talk specifically about the history of the video posts on this blog while I was recording, but while I was looking for the above links, I found this gem that is the foundation of why I changed things up here last year.  It made me smile to look back on that time. Although it was a tough stretch, the fruit has been so meaningful!

If you have any ideas for me for the summer, whether about audio, video or writing topics, do write in! Do you have books or genres to suggest for the book club? Write in about those too! I'd also love to hear how your Easter season is going.

Of saints, socks, new Bibles & podcast foibles on this Lenten Monday...

Well, isn't this a surprise? Tiffany with blogging time on her hands on a Monday? It's spring break, so let's get all wild! ;-) The schedule around here may be a bit different next week too, given that I'm taking time off from both work and blogging for the Triduum. But one day at a time, yes?

This particular Monday is also my big day over at CatholicMom.com. This month we're discussing child saints and how our own children are inspired by, and can relate to, them. Come join in the conversation over there in the comments!

In other news, on Friday I got home to a few exciting developments. Lovely spring flowers in my signature colors with accompanying sassy preschooler:

You might want to see if this package deal is still available in your local supermarket ;-)

...and a new Bible that I am *super* excited about:

 I was a busy knitter, and finished a gift sock this weekend:

Now I just have to, you know, make her a second one. Because apparently she's a diva and needs TWO of them. ;-) I already cast on for sock 2, which I think should earn me future purgatory points. It's always hard to not move over to a brand new, fresh project after you finish something, and instead diligently make an exact replica of the thing that you just made. When you go the former route, this is called Second Sock Syndrome, which my husband thinks is hilarious and that I made this cute thing up. I assure you, the Second Sock Syndrome struggle is very, very real. :0

How are you, dear reader? How is your last full week of Lent going? Are you looking forward to the new podcast? Do tell me all about it in the comments!

Tea Time with Tiffany #39 - Spring & new adventures are in the air!

Ooohhh, it's an extra exciting installment this week of:

A smorgasbord of updates on dance, the upcoming summer performance season, a family trip, an exciting visit, and much more!





**To subscribe to the audio version of Tea Time with Tiffany, just search for it in iTunes or use this link to subscribe via Feedburner in your podcatcher of choice.

Items mentioned in this episode:

• A few of the dance styles that I mentioned: Shaabi and Baladi, Saidi, Melaya Leff. 
• Forgot to mention (d'oh) that the St. Joseph Novena starts today!

What's coming up for you this spring and summer, dear reader? How are your New Year's and Lenten resolutions going? Are you going to add anything new in now that Lent is past the halfway point? Do write in and tell us all about it!

Bouncing off the walls over here on a beautiful spring-like day...

I am all discombobulated today, but in the best way possible. I mean, I don't even have an image to go in this post, and yet I don't care, and I'm all giddy. :0 I'm working the evening shift, and even that hasn't dampened my spirits.

The morning started out with a chirpy Anne greeting me in bed and asking how the Worship Committee meeting went last night, since I got back after she was already asleep.

"I came to see you when I got back, Lovey, but you were already sound asleep. I gave you a kiss."

"I did not feel your kiss, Mommy!"

She was quite outraged.

"Whenever you come into my room, Mommy, you need to say: 'Anne, Anne wake up!'"

Yeah sure. I'll make sure and do that next time. ;-)

But back to the point, the Worship Committee meeting went *splendidly*. Nobody was cranky, huzzah! We talked about Holy Week. As ever, I am SO looking forward to the Triduum, and plan to attend all of the liturgies. Fr. Joe is hosting a get-together for us on Holy Thursday night. :) And the Easter Vigil will be magnificent.

Interestingly, we do not have any Catechumens this year, and so there will be no RCIA component to the Vigil Mass. We do have 2 Candidates for Confirmation, but apparently if there are not also Catechumens, it is against the rubrics to just confirm those Candidates at the Easter Vigil. They will receive the sacrament with the rest of the Confirmation class in May. Intriguing, yes?

So, I got home, had a lovely evening with Mike and Henry, and woke up this morning to a chirpy Anne. Check. Then I got ready and set off for work. The sun is shining and the temperature here is incredibly mild. Spring is coming!

As I was driving along, praying a rosary, I noticed a bird fall to the ground. Naturally, sensitive-disposition person that I am, I panicked:

"Oh gosh, that poor bird! Does he have a broken wing?! I hope...Oh. There's another bird right there with him. Right. Nobody is hurt. Let's give them some privacy!"

Yet another sign of spring. :0

So, I got in, and because I'm working the evening shift tonight, I technically have comp time coming to me. And so I took advantage of that opportunity to do something that is a LONG time in coming.

*big suspense!*

It's not exactly a secret, because we've been talking about it for months. But let's just say it's podcast related, and I'm so excited about it that I can hardly sit still. Stay tuned for more details tomorrow during Tea Time with Tiffany!

Details tomorrow, but no actual *product* until next week, just fyi. Let's just say that Tiffany has some serious technical magic to work behind the scenes to make this dream a reality. Anybody know if there is a patron saint of audio editing?! I need his or her contact information please.

I mean it. Leave it in the comments. :0

Tea Time with Tiffany #32 - Yes, it's actually a podcast! And a New Year's resolution check in...

Hi all! I was apprehensive about remembering how I did all of the new technological mumbo jumbo I did last week, and indeed we had a few snafus on this week's episode of:

:0

First of all, I'm pretty sick, so I sound like Death Warmed Over. Lovely, yes I know. And THEN, the inevitable happened. I started the video, and had adjusted my audio recorder sound and all that good stuff, and I started chatting away, and nearly 15 minutes later when I stopped the video, do you want to know what I discovered, dear blog follower? Yep, I had forgotten to hit the start button on the audio recorder.

Sometimes I am SO.INCREDIBLY.PREDICTABLE.

By that juncture, my voice was *worse* if that's even POSSIBLE from talking so much, and the spirit of re-recording was just not in me. So I had to grab the audio from the video, and in the process, the audio isn't fantastic, I'll tell you that. You'll have to turn your volume up a bit this week. Plus, you can hear a few notification sounds that came up on my machine while I was finagling this, so, SO sorry. A learning experience, I'll only get better from here, I promise!!

OK, so this week I discuss this new podcasting enterprise (instructions for subscribing are below) and also the state of my New Year's resolutions. How are yours going, dear reader?





These new podcast episodes of Tea Time will be about 10-15 minutes each week. I'm allowing myself to be a bit chattier since you have an audio only option now. :-) To subscribe to the audio version of Tea Time with Tiffany, just search for it in iTunes or use this link to subscribe on Feedburner to your podcatcher of choice.

Items discussed in this week's episode:

• Again, Feedburner, if you'd like to subscribe to the show as a podcast. After a bit of an initial struggle, Feedburner and I are now friends. ;-)
• Sacred Reading for the daily Gospel readings and additional short reflections. 
• Living Faith devotional

How are your New Year's resolutions going? Oh! I mentioned maybe signing up for a new fitness class for one lunchtime a week at work. Do you have one that you go to and like? Zumba? Pilates? Yoga? Give me all the deets, I'd love to hear them!

Tea Time with Tiffany #31 - Could it be? Actual podcast stuff?!

Hi everybody! This week I am particularly enthused about our time together for:

Something new this week, and I discuss it in the video, but you may notice that there is a link to download the audio file this time. Ooohhh, Tiffany, you're trying something new, ooo la la! Yes, yes, very exciting, right?!




*To download the audio file, select the column icon (it will say "See more Formats at Internet Archive" when you hover over it) to head over to the hosting page. From a desktop: right click on the MP3 option on the right side of the screen, and select "Save Link As..." Then save the file to your computer or connected device. From your mobile device: click on the mp3 file, then press and hold on the play arrow. An option to save the file will come up.

Indeed, I may move to libsyn or Sound Cloud to host the files soon, as that would be a lot better for both you and me. But that costs money, so I'm working up to that. ;-) I'll keep you posted!

Items discussed (or meant to discuss. d'oh!) in this episode:

• St. Peregrine Novena
• St. Francis de Sales feast day is January 29th, and his novena will begin January 20th.
• My home over at the Internet Archive as the Catholic Librarian.
• Don't forget I have all of those chaplets to pray along with too!

So, do you like having the new audio option? Do you have other audio ideas for me? I'd love to hear them. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

All! I am positively AGLOW from my chat time this morning with Allison Gingras on her show, A Seeking Heart! The podcast version will be up shortly, so if you'd like to download and listen over the holiday weekend, you can download from this page and it will appear there as soon as it's ready. Yay? Yay!

As you heard from my voice if you were able to listen to the live stream, I am SO SICK. I went to bed last night at 8 pm. Talk about a wet blanket. :0 But man. I just had nothing left to give. Mike had to teach, so I was home with the kids, and I barely managed to scrape something edible together for dinner, and then stay conscious until I put Anne to bed. Mike cut his class short so that he could get home earlier and be with Henry while I tucked into bed. I couldn't fall asleep right away, but I laid in there and listened to podcasts until I realized that I was nodding off and made it official. But *shudder*. It was a rough evening.

Overnight, I actually rested more or less comfortably. Although based upon my energy level one would think I had gotten a grand total of 10 minutes of sleep the whole night. I'm persevering.

Tonight, Mike and I are scheduled for a date night, so I need to wrangle up some color before then. Working on it! I also have the infamous fever rash today. Lovely, so lovely, I look today. I'm currently in the raised and splotchy texture phase. :0

This will be my last post for the week, as you and I will both be busy with Thanksgiving plans and family visiting. I will be with you again next Monday with amusing details, I am certain. And also to reflect on the First Sunday of Advent and other Advent plans! Until then, have a wonderful holiday weekend (those of you in the U.S. :-)) and I'll talk to you on Monday! May God bless you all!

Tea Time with Tiffany #25 - Upcoming writing & audio projects...maybe I could hear *your* voice?!

Happy Thursday everyone! This is our last episode until after Thanksgiving, so I figured I'd squeeze a lot into this week's installment of:

Lots of fun stuff going on, and I pass on as much as I can this week. I'll be recording some audio shows the next two Tuesdays. Squeal, right?! Want to know more? Do listen on, dear listener! I also mention the new writing project that I'm involved in.


Items mentioned in this episode:

• Allison Gingras's show, A Seeking Heart. This streams live from 10-11 am Eastern, every week day. I'll be a guest on Tuesday November 24th! And you can CALL IN while I'm on! Oh, do it, do it, pretty please!! :0 More details on Monday.
• Catholic Mom's' CM Hangout podcast. I will be the guest contributor the week of December 1st! Links and all that good stuff as they become available.
• A new book contribution. Details coming your way in 2016!

With Thanksgiving being next week, we'll be together in prayer and spirit rather than via our conversations here (with the exception of Monday and possibly Tuesday). But do write in to tell me all about how you'll be celebrating Thanksgiving. What is your tradition? Do you add any Black Friday shopping into the mix? I'd love to hear all about it. :-)

Talk to you all on Monday!

Tea Time with Tiffany Episode 11 - I want your ideas for a new audio project!

Morning all! And welcome to our 11th installment of:

This week I'm talking about the ideas rolling around in this spacey head of mine with regard to new audio projects. I'm pretty much relying solely on YOU for this one, so please do write in with your feedback!


Items mentioned in this episode:

• Chaplets page now has 10 recordings available!
• St. Monica novena begins Tuesday, leading up to her feast August 27th. Details TBA! And I will be making a recording of her chaplet. :)
• Custom chaplets available from Rosaries by Allison!

I'm not going to be able to post tomorrow, so I will talk to you all early next week. In the mean time, do write in with your audio ideas, K? ;-) I promise to treasure them. And write back to you in a chirpy fashion. And give you a virtual hug.